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The Fresno State “Don’t Call Me Cinderrella” Bulldogs became the national champions of college baseball at the College World Series (that sentance is a bit of an oxymoron). Steve Detwiler was a one man wrecking crew, with “one thumb” (he actually has two thumbs, but ESPN insists he has only one). The RF drove in all 6 of his teams runs, and recorded the final out, but Detwiler reminded interviewers that the victory was a team effort. It was a beaten down Bulldog team at that. They had injuries to their best pitchers, injuries to their best players, a low RPI, a low batting average, and a high ERA. ESPN announced that the team scored an average of 6+ runs a game which was good enough for 102nd in the nation (possibly the most unlikely championship ever). It turns out, that is just how Bulldogs like it, unless you are from Georgia. (For the entire game recap, check out this live blog)

With all of that lined up, Fresno shouldn’t have won. They shouldn’t have even been there. As a matter of fact, if this was the BCS, they wouldn’t have had the chance. They most likely, wouldn’t have even gotten a BCS game. If there was ever a case against the BCS, it is the way that baseball runs their championship (and basketball for that matter). All the little guys are asking for is a chance. They might not win often, but every now and then, they just might shock you. Not too many people in the world cared about Fresno St. before this championship (hell, not too many people cared about the city of Fresno), but for one week people cared. For one week they weren’t the little guy. They don’t want to be known as Cinderella, and they won’t. From now on, they will be known as champions.

If a college baseball tournament is played, but it is televised on ESPN Classic, does it make a sound? Much of the world has become disenfranchised with the WWL, the 4 letter word, the propaganda machine that is ESPN. Myself included in this group. I have pretty much come to terms with ESPN and their endless rants, lack of accountability, and recyclying of the same story…(T.O.?) Really, those things don’t bother me anymore, but their latest programming decision has me baffled. Why was one of the final games of the College World Series buried on ESPN Classic? One might think that perhaps there was a major sporting event that was taking place. Something like Eurocup, or maybe even olympic gymnastic qualifying, but that was not the case. The College Baseball World Series wasn’t even good enough for ESPN2 because of re-runs of the 2007 World Series of Poker. That is right, something that took place a year ago, has already been seen, and is seriously waning thanks to the constant barrage of coverage from the WWL, is what bumped one of the most improbable runs in college baseball history. How college baseball continues to be constantly put on the backburner of the sports pyramid is beyond me, but programming decisions like those made at ESPN certainly don’t help. For those of you not lucky enough to be in Omaha, or catch the game on channel 140 (cablevision customers only), we have a recap of the weekends college action right here for you.

UGA 10, Stanford 8 (Game 1); And game 1 was all the Bulldogs needed. The Cardinal came into the game needing to take 2 from the undefeated Bulldogs, and didn’t even get one. Stanford decided that they liked to play down multiple runs. Facing deficits of 5 or more throughout most of the game. The Cardinal continued to play, and even brought the game to 2 in the 9th, on a homer by Ben Clowe, but that wasn’t enough, and the Bulldogs advanced.

UNC 4, Fresno State 3 (Game 1); On the brink of elimination, the Tar Heels led off the 8th with a double. The obvious baseball decision here is to bunt. Chad Flack attempted to do just that. Having been the clean-up hitter for most of the season, he wasn’t very good at sacrificing. As our coach always said, “the bigger the game, the bigger the bunting game.” Turns out this adage wasn’t entirely true. After Flack’s failed bunt attempt, he launched this towering homer into the stands for the go ahead run. Big Mo was on the side of the Tar Heels, and so was their ace, who would pitch game 2.

Fresno 6, UNC 1 (Elimination Game); The team that many had picked to win the whole enchilada had rallied from the losers bracket, and was facing a team that appeared to lack any real definition. Some idiots even predicted Fresno to be 2 and done. UNC also had their “ace” on the mound. A man that was 22-2 in his college career. One of his two losses came earlier in the week to Fresno State. When the cards are all in line, that is when the house seems to come crumbling down (thank you medal bats). The Tar Heels looked to be off to a good start, as they led off the game with a double, but Cinderella kept on her slipper and got out of the jam. The Bulldogs went on to strike first, and wouldn’t stop striking. They scored in 4 consecutive innings, including 2 crooked numbers. Now this years Cinderella has a ticket to the ball.

Prediction: Lucky for the fans, we can catch tonight’s action on ESPN2 at 7, and the great programmers at the 4 letter have given us the privilege of watching the kiddies on ESPN on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our prediction for tonight, pain! That is at least for Fresno State 3B, Tommy Mendonca, who has two dislocated and two bruised fingers in his throwing hand, and a laundry list of other players with injuries from a broken hamate to a chipped tooth. They have all played with the injuries thusfar, and there is no reason for one to think that will hold them back. In a pure match-up, the FS Bulldogs are a weaker in pretty much every facet, but they have been that way for the entire postseason. We are going to pick the FS Bulldogs because they “want it more,” which isn’t a real attribute. Oh well, who needs reasoning?

Yea we are late with this (2 days late in fact), but who cares. People only cruise this sight looking for chicks in the clicks, and that takes a lot of effort. We don’t have any of that for you right now. All we have for you is baseball highlights. If you want that stuff, go here.

Miami 3, Stanford 8; A day late and a dollar short was the slogan for the Miami Hurricanes after this one. The ‘Canes managed to go all season and lose 8 games. They lost 8 times in a conference that was easily the most dominating in the country. The ‘Canes have also managed to lose 3 times in their last 6 tries. That is not good, especially in tournament play. I suppose it was a tough draw for the #1 national seed, but they managed to lose to every team in their bracket at some point this season. Miami led for a whole 2 and a half innings, then it was over. In all, it wasn’t a good night for Miami players. Their best player was 1 K short of the golden sombrero, their pitching was lackluster at best all tournament, and their whole team lacked in JeternessBradynessEli Manningness(?). Not to overshadow the win for the giant tree hugging team, but the number 1 seed blew this tournament. Their toughest opponent should have been a struggling FSU team, but it turns out it was themselves. Miami went 2-15 and 8 strikeouts with RiSP, and have been eliminated from the college world series in 3 games for each of the past 4 trips. Oh well, better luck next year. At least your mascot can dance.

Too busy watching your little brother get an X-rays last night? Sorry they was a bit of inside information. Regardless, here is what you missed on the collegiate diamond…

Miami 7, FSU 5; Miami won the game, and in an elimination game, that is all that counts. This game won’t do much in the way to build confidence. Just look at what closer Carlos Gutierrez had to say at the press game conference. Well actually, he didn’t attend questioning. Perhaps he wasn’t happy with his performance, yet again. So far he has faced 16 hitters, allowed 7 hits, 7 runs, 5 earned (granted it was his own error), and 2 walks. One night after blowing the game, Gutierrez made this one interesting in the 9th as the Seminoles rallied for 3 runs. Buster Posey, the Dick Howser Trophy winner, and Golden Spikes finalist, stood at the plate in the form of the go ahead run. Perhaps Gutierrez did the right thing. He walked Posey to load the bases, then got Jack Rye to ground out, ending the game. FSU is out, and somewhere Jenn Sterger weeps. Miami lives another day to face the loser of the Georgia/Stanford game. Speaking of the Georgia/Stanford game…

Georgia 4, Stanford 3; The Cardinal battered the ball around in the 3rd, including a home run from Jason “The Astro” Castro, to back Georgia into a corner. As Miami learned last night, and Stanford tonight, nobody backs baby Georgia into a corner. Stanford decided not to score anymore in the game, and Georgia decided to score 4 more times, including 2 in the 7th. After a controversial foul call, Georgia continued to rally. Matt Cerione drove in the eventual game winner with a bases loaded single. The bullpen pitched 6 shutout innings, and the Bulldogs await the winner of the Miami/Cardinal match-up.

One of our largest pet peeves in the sports world, is the lack of accountability. When people make predictions, and they are right, you will never hear the end (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then), but when they are wrong? Well, most just go on to make another asinine prediction. One thing you will get here at Awesomo is accountability. For those of you that might have read our College World Series preview, you may have read comments like “The Bulldogs should enjoy their two day holiday as one of the elite teams in the NCAA,” or “An opening game against Fresno State could help as well. Fresno was ranked 4th for a reason. Look for the Owls to sneak through that game pretty easily, which is a third of what they need,” or even “Although the talent pool is nice in this group, and FSU beat Miami once this season, look for the Hurricanes to run this division and take a spot in the finals versus the bracket 2 winner.” It was an entertaining weekend in college baseball, and pretty much proved that we don’t need to make predictions. We aren’t going to stop that, but at least we will admit when we are wrong. For those of you that don’t know, this is what happened in the weekend of college baseball…

Bracket 1
Cardinal 16, Seminoles 5; The Cardinal led this one until a game tying, 2 out, 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th. The Seminoles were flying high. Unfortunately, so were the era’s of their relievers. As the 9th began, the Seminoles sat tied, and looking for the chance to continue the rally in the 9th. The only thing that stood between them was 3 outs, and apparently a new college world series record. 11 runs in the top of the 9th for Stanford tied a CWS single inning run record, and devastated one of the best teams in the country. Mike Martin sure wasn’t calling this effort “beeeeeeautiful.” Stanford moves on in the winners bracket, and FSU faces the dredges of elimination. Fortunately for them, it is against a familiar opponent…

Georgia 7, Miami 4; Miami took the lead in the 7th, when their best player (Alonso) hit a go ahead homer. This meant that only 6 outs were in their way of a first round victory. For fans of the U, this is a situation that they would take every time this season. As a matter of fact, Miami hadn’t lost this season when leading after the 8th. UGA wasn’t going home that easily. They put the pressure on stud closer, Carlos Gutierrez, singled, reached 1st on a strikeout, singled in a run, then the wheels came off. The ball came back to the pitcher, and anyone that knows pitchers, knows they struggle throwing anywhere but to the plate 60 ft 6 inches away. The throwing error allowed the go ahead run to cross the plate, and sent Miami to an elimination date against the familiar opponent, FSU. Bracket 1 is showing why the ACC only has 1 national championship.
Bracket 2

Fresno State 17, Rice 5; Not to be outdone by the other Bulldogs, and making us look like idiots, Fresno State put the beatdown on one of the nations best pitching staffs. The lowest seed ever at the college world series is not taking that distinction laying down. As a matter of fact they are doing it standing up, and even trotting, trotting all around the bases. 9 runs for this team came in the form of 3 homers. This team has done a lot of growing from their 8-12 start. They have arguably had the toughest road over the last month, but they won’t let that stop them. Fresno isn’t listening to critics, but we are still going to make a prediction. Tomorrow isn’t going to be as easy as today. Because tomorrow they face…

UNC 8, LSU 4; UNC controlled this game. They staved off a late rally, and a few blown calls to keep down the rally tigers. UNC’s dominating team was able to show just what a well rounded team can do in Omaha. Alex Wright dominated the game with 6 K’s in 7+ innings. Great starting pitching, timely hitting, and a closing effort by the bullpen launched UNC to the second round in the winners bracket. That is not a good sign for the rest of the teams in bracket 2.

Only 2 teams have ever come back to win the championship after losing the first round game. If LSU, Miami, Rice, and FSU go home early, they can check out the Auggie Garrido special on ESPN. That is some entertaining stuff.

F*ck Actober…It’s time for the College Baseball World Series. Not really sure why they call it the world series when the NCAA is strictly something that resides with in the US. Oh well, we don’t have international readers anyway. If ESPN can get people to watch pansy ass crap like the Softball World Series, then they better get people to tune into a real sport. Granted you won’t get hotties like this, but you will get 8 teams that have had hardly any media attention for the last 6 months, and now get to be under the propaganda machine known as ESPN. You might even get two team mates fighting. There are 8 teams in this tourney 2 SEC, 1 Pac 10, 1 Conference USA, 3 ACC teams, and we don’t know what conference Fresno State is in. Match-ups are below, plus a little prediction action…

Bracket 1–FSU, Stanford, Georgia, and Miami

FSU (54-12)-The Seminoles are the lowest rated ACC team, but that isn’t saying much considering the other two. FSU has stumbled a little in the regional and super regional, earning losses against Bucknell and Wichita State, but they have rallied and done enough to earn a spot in Omaha. They own the best offense in Nebraska right now, and arguably the best player, catcher Buster Posey (.460, 26 HR, 92 RBIs). Come on, with a name like Buster, he has to be full of athletic prowess.

Cardinal (39-22-2)-We like them mainly because they are one of a few major sports teams without a plural, and seem very pompous for the reason they chose the name. Regardless, the “Big Trees” are in the CWS. Stanford is a tremendously balanced team, hitting nearly .300 as a team. “Tremendously balanced” means that they don’t do anything particularly well, but it also means that they are really terrible anywhere either. They were able to run through Cal State Fullerton on their host regional, and ended 5-0 on the season against them. Unfortunately, nothing spectacular here. They should be happy just to be able to step on the field at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Bulldogs (41-23-1)-As one of two bulldogs in this fight, they bat .309 as a team, and have a closer with 2.76 ERA. A strong bullpen can go a long way in a short tournament like this. Their SS, Gordon Beckham, leads the team at .301, 26 HRs, and 72 RBIs. They have 4 players with double digit dingers, and a team that lives on the long ball is in the right place. Pitching is what wins championships, but some dingers might make it interesting.

‘Canes (52-9)-The ‘Canes have been the #1 team in the pre-season, the #1 team throughout the entire season, and stand a good chance of ending #1. The team bats .322 as a team. Not sure if you noticed, but the ‘Canes play in the ACC (the best conference in college baseball). Yonder Alonso is all over the college baseball world, and that is probably because he is really really ridiculously good. One downside for the ‘Canes is that he looks like he is 34, eats small children for snacks, and bears a striking resemblance to Mike Golic. Lucky for them, they have a sick pitching staff that includes an 11-0 freshman (2.62 ERA), a reliever with a 1.97 ERA, and a closer that has 13 saves.

Prediction-Although the talent pool is nice in this group, and FSU beat Miami once this season, look for the Hurricanes to run this division and take a spot in the finals versus the bracket 2 winner.

Bracket 2–Fresno State, Rice, LSU, UNC

Bulldogs #2 (42-29)-When we were little we bought a Fresno State hat. It was white and had a cool looking bulldog on it. Personally we like their mascot better than Uga, David Carr also played for Fresno State, Fresno State beat ASU in the super regionals, and that about does it for our knowledge of this team. We learned that they are the first #4 seed to make it to the CWS, and they beat some of our faves, Long Beach State and San Diego. The Bulldogs should enjoy their two day holiday as one of the elite teams in the NCAA.

Rice Owls (47-13)-Rice is one of the country’s premier baseball programs. We aren’t sure if Rice actually has an offense that is worth talking about, but they sure do have a pitching staff. The team ERA of 3.63 could go a long way in earning this team a spot in the finals. An opening game against Fresno State could help as well. Fresno was ranked 4th for a reason. Look for the Owls to sneak through that game pretty easily, which is a third of what they need.

LSU Tigers (48-17)-The SEC champion has two players with 20 or more homers, and has a solid pitching staff. A tough draw to face UNC first, but this team has been one of the best for the entire season (including a 23 game winning streak), but reports are circulating that Les Miles is leaving to coach the West Michigan Whitecaps, that could hold the Tigers back. This team has come from behind 29 times this season, including a 5 run rally in the 9th to save the season against UC Irvine. Can the rally tigers continue the magic?

Tar Heels (51-12)-The Heels have made it to the CWS for 3 years in a row, and this just might be their best team yet. This team boasts a .324 team average, and a 2.83 ERA, which is ridiculous. Their pitching gives them an edge in this tournament. Plus, if they are shown in primetime, we will get more Psycho T. That is good for everyone.

Prediction-Rice has solid pitching, but the Tar Heels do it all. These two will square off, and UNC will be making the trip to the finals.

Finals Prediction-The ACC has more going for it that the Vick’s. UNC is the only team in the country that took the season series from the ‘Canes. It will be hard for UNC to take another one from this highly talented team. Awesomo has half a heart siding with the ‘Canes (ever since the Warren Sapp days). The Tar Heels will take this one to the brink, but look for UM to win it in 3. Pitching wins championships, but this is college, those mofo’s get metal bats.

If you don’t like what I have to say, you can always check out some of the other recaps on the web. This one is pretty solid.

Baseball is alive and well throughout the country. The sun is peaking out in the East, the beach is calling, bars are opening their outside, and college baseball tournies are just around the bend. For now, we will take you through the past week’s action, and items of note for the coming week. Check last week’s recap for current rankings, and USA Today for the whole top 25. Check it oooooutttt…

1.) Miami (39-5): The ‘Canes remained on top of the polls after winning 6 straight, including this weekend’s series sweep against non-conference opponent Saint Mary’s. Yonder Alonso (pictured above) hit homers number 13 and 14. The ‘Canes have given up 12 runs during their current 6 game winning streak.

2.) UNC (38-8): The Tar Heels didn’t play last week.

3.) FSU (39-7): FSU did play, and they did it well, by sweeping Stetson in the middle of the week and Clemson over the weekend. Rattling off 5 wins has this team poised for the ACC tournament in a few weeks.

4.) ASU (37-8): The Sun Devils took 2 of 3 in a hard fought battle with UCLA, pushing them past Stanford in the conference, and the rankings. ASU looks poised to take a national seed in the tourney. Wichita State could use a W against ASU, so look for the Shockers to play some motivated baseball in their mid-week match-up with ASU.

5.) Texas A&M (40-8): The Aggies boast the most wins in the country, including 23 of 25. They face a test this weekend against Nebraska, but an impressive performance could lock up a national seed.

6.) Rice (34-11): Apparently, they do some learning in Texas as Rice was off for the week with finals, but return this week with games against OSU and Houston.

7.) Nebraska (36-8-1): The aforementioned series against the Aggies will be a test of strength for the Huskers, HUSKER POWER!!!. They have a lot of time on their hands out their in corn country.

8.) OSU (35-12): As the third Big XII team in the top ten, the Cowpokes took 3 of 4 from Utah Valley this weekend. Other than this week’s tune-up against Rice, the Cowboys are poised to begin the Big XII tournament.

9.) Georgia (31-15-1): The Bulldogs lead the SEC. They used this weekend’s series win against Ole Miss, the home of Eli Manning, to vault into the top 10. With games against Vandy, and the conference tournament, there is still plenty for Georgia to prove.

10*.) San Diego (37-13): After a disappointing mid-week loss to Cal State Fullerton (12-3), the Toreros rebounded to take the weekend series against Pepperdine. The Toreros weren’t that disappointed by the losses because this is where they live. San Diego wraps up conference play this weekend in San Francisco.

Others of note:

198.) Rider University 24-20: Tumbled 30 spots in the RPI ratings after being swept by the Sienna Saints over the weekend. The weather was miserable, and so was the play of the Broncs. They still stand in 4th place in the conference, and can take solace in the fact that this is where they live.

*Technically, they are ranked 11th, but we didn’t want to talk about Wichita State, so we put San Diego in the top 10.